Many of Mollie Hunter's novels are concerned with Scottish culture, history, or folklore. While Cat, Herself is not a fantasy, it does resemble some of Hunter's works in this genre, like A Stranger Came Ashore, which treat isolated, close-knit groups who are steeped in tradition and folklore. Several of Hunter's novels, such as The Third Eye, also deal with characters who have the ability to see into the future.

Cat, Herself, however, is even more closely connected to Hunter's realistic novels of life in twentieth-century Scotland. It has been noted that Cat McPhie is similar to Bridie McShane, the heroine of Hunter's two most autobiographical books, A Sound of Chariots and Hold on to Love. Both Cat and Bridie are strong-willed young women who have close ties to their fathers. They both possess special talents which set them apart from their peers and are outsiders who...